Newly launched report feature provides patients with a visual aid to their imaging
PocketHealth—a connected care company that specializes in enterprise imaging solutions—is rolling out a new feature that will help patients to better understand their imaging results.
The Toronto, Ontario-based company announced the launch of Image Reader on Wednesday. The artificial intelligence-enabled feature will be integrated directly into patients’ imaging results.
Image Reader provides anatomical visuals that help explain what radiologists are looking at on patients’ scans. The feature identifies certain findings within a patient’s report and simultaneously highlights the area of interest in their images. It does this with the help of several segmentation models, including MedSAM (Medical Segmentation Anywhere Model), which have been refined to offer patients information about their imaging in a way that is easily understood.
“Medical imaging AI has primarily focused on clinical applications, but there’s an equally important opportunity to improve patient understanding,” Bo Wang, PhD, chief AI scientist at the University Health Network and leader of the development of MedSAM, said in the announcement. “PocketHealth has taken an innovative approach by refining our segmentation model for real-world patient use. Using this technology to directly benefit patients is a meaningful step toward making medical imaging more accessible and insightful.”
Currently, the offering is available for X-ray and CT imaging, though PocketHealth has plans to expand its utility to additional modalities in the near future. Within X-ray and CT settings, however, the feature is generalizable and can accurately identify anatomy across imaging sources, equipment manufacturers and clinical settings.
“Reviewing medical imaging results can be complex and intimidating for patients, and radiology reports often lack visual references, making it harder for patients to connect findings to their own anatomy,” added Ram Chadalavada, MD, chief medical officer of PocketHealth and vice chair of radiology informatics at UC Health. “PocketHealth has improved patient literacy around medical reports with Report Reader—now, Image Reader builds on that by automatically identifying organs and bones in scans, offering clarity that helps patients feel more confident, informed and engaged in their care.”
Image Reader joins the company’s other patient-centered features, Report Reader and MyCare Navigator, both of which were developed to provide patients with simple explanations of their reports and care management.
Image Reader will be on display during the upcoming HIMSS meeting taking place in Las Vegas March 3-5.
Learn more here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.